Police Folk Allegedly Behaving Badly

[CBH99]

Been reading about "Mental Health & Addictions Response Teams (MHART) in Ontario emergency services.

Different municipalities call them by different acronyms.

There has been an increase in them since the $27 million payout to the family of George Floyd by City of Minneapolis taxpayers.

Niagara Mental Health & Addictions Response Team (MHART) — Ottawa Community Partnerships For Health Equity

Niagara Mental Health & Addictions Response Team (MHART) Learn about the Niagara Mental Health & Addictions Response Team (MHART) . Since 2018, Niagara has implemented a mobile, integrated health team to respond to calls about mental health and substance use issues. The team respo

www.ocphe.ca

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/mental-health-addictions-health-minister-1.6596702

Sylvia Jones unveiled Mental Health and Addictions Response Team (MHART) and vehicle
The MHART team was created in partnership between Essex-Windsor EMS and Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare. Essex-Windsor EMS Chief Bruce Krauter said the team consists of two full-time paramedics and a social worker from Hôtel-Dieu Grace.

"Treat and Release", at the scene makes sense. Rather than paramedics transporting EDPs to an already over crowded ER.

Agreed. We have a few different programs in place to try to address community needs & keep the vulnerable demographics out of the ER as much as possible.

The Community Paramedic Program has paramedics that operate outside of the 911 system using SUV's to fulfill their duties. They tend to have a list of places they will go to each week & ensure that that site/patient has everything they need before going onto the next one. (For example, they will have a retirement home they go to on Mondays, a lost of patients for Tuesday, etc)

(Their uniforms tend to be casual looking beige khaki pants with a dark navy blue golf shirt, not the reflective stripe/first responder style uni)

______________________


I think EPS was running a pilot project that had a specially trained social worker riding with an officer in certain areas of the city or for certain shifts. (I think Ontario is actually a wee bit ahead of us on this kind of thing, as I think the demand made itself known earlier via larger population)

Dangerous work for the social worker even with the police present, I imagine. And having the social worker present (who, in theory, has some rapport with their clients) probably helps things go smoother for the officers also

 

[lenaitch]

I'm not that familiar with the EMS-based response teams in Ontario other than to know they exist. The 'crisis response teams' that pair a police officer with a MH/social worker have different applications throughout the province. Depending on jurisdiction, they may or may not be a first-on-scene response, and are deployed during different hours, probably based on available resources and staffing.

In the broader discussion, I'm a proponent of 're-institutionalization'. Ontario shuttered the majority of its mental health hospitals in the 1990s and returned most of the residents to the communities. I'm not convinced the community supports were there in adequate numbers, and group homes, family supports, etc. are only effective if the person wants to participate.

I realize that Ontario's history of institutionalization isn't great and it was a too-handy go to for incorrigibility and relatively minor (today's standards) behavioral issues, but the justice and medical systems, as well as and society in general, need better tools to deal with that comparatively small but disruptive/dangerous segment that has no business being at large in the community and who reject voluntary controls on their freedom.

 

[childs56]

Who would have thought redneck behind the times Alberta would have been a leader in this type of program. jt should take a bit from the playbooks out here.

copied from the Public Service Web site
Grande Prairie Police and Crisis Team (PACT) provides a joint mental health/police team available for response to mental health crises; an integrated intervention model which ensures proper determination of care and referral. The team is called to assist in situations in the community where mental health and/or concurrent mental health and addictions issues contribute to the individual's crisis to decrease potential escalation of the situation and/or criminal charges.

PACT was first implemented by Alberta Health Services in the City of Grande Prairie, Alberta from May 2009 to June 2014. During 2011-2012, 1014 clients were seen (475 females and 539 males). Of these, 384 (39%) of the calls involved individuals deemed a danger to themselves, 307 (30%) of the calls involved individuals with various personality disorders, 305 (30%) of the calls involved drug and/or alcohol, and 444 (44%) of clients had previous contact with PACT.

 

[mariomike]

I'm not that familiar with the EMS-based response teams in Ontario other than to know they exist.

They use different acronyms across Ontario, and the U.S..

Resolve issues on the scene, rather than transport patients to a hospital.

Times have changed. We ( almost ) always transported 9 1 1 patients to ER.

Now, paramedics do Treat and Release at the Scene. Keeps 9 1 1 patients out of the ER.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1400999422323048448

 

[Jarnhamar]

Kelowna RCMP officer who assaulted student during wellness check won't serve jail time​

But at least they nailed her with a conditional discharge and some community service.

​

 

[Booter]

You don’t go to jail for assault in this country unless you have a long criminal history of assault. Not a call on whether that is right or wrong but it’s the way it is.

No criminal record/ guilty pleas and one assault charge- no jail time for anyone.

There was never any danger of jail in this charge- but I wonder if the charges could have contained something more substantial. But I’m no lawyer. I’m barely a cop

 

[Jarnhamar]

There was never any danger of jail in this charge-

Agreed, especially considering her traumatic childhood.

 

[brihard]

With the criminal proceedings now concluded they’ll be able to move forward with the internal conduct hearing. Good chance that will rise to a level that will cause it to be published and public.

 

[Jarnhamar]

With the criminal proceedings now concluded they’ll be able to move forward with the internal conduct hearing. Good chance that will rise to a level that will cause it to be published and public.

A First Nations woman who experienced poverty and physical, sexual and emotional abuse as a child, along with normalization of substance abuse and violence that was suffering from an accumulation of job stress and compassion fatigue? I can't imagine there is a lot of interest in pursuing anything.

 

[Halifax Tar]

Agreed, especially considering her traumatic childhood.

Understood, we all have suffered trauma growing up. Some worse than others. Hers did seem somewhat extreme.

Is this not the kind of thing that should come up on a psyc evaluation?

 

[mariomike]

The civil $uit was paid. For an undisclosed amount.

The RCMP confirmed that a settlement has been reached, but said no statement will be forthcoming, adding details of the settlement are covered under a confidentiality clause.

From 2021, two more civil lawsuits regarding the same officer,

Two more lawsuits have been filed against Browning. One incident occurred in 2016, while the other happened in 2019. Both of those cases are still before the courts.

‘Justice for Mona Wang’: Settlement reached in lawsuit over B.C. RCMP wellness check | Globalnews.ca

In a statement to Global News, Mona Wang said “the settlement was a compromise, which means no one got exactly what they wanted.”

globalnews.ca

The psychological aspect of applicant background checks in emergency services has been a topic of conversation for a long time.

 

[brihard]

A First Nations woman who experienced poverty and physical, sexual and emotional abuse as a child, along with normalization of substance abuse and violence that was suffering from an accumulation of job stress and compassion fatigue? I can't imagine there is a lot of interest in pursuing anything.

She will likely be facing a significant disciplinary hit. Not sure if she’ll face termination but I won’t be surprised if it’s on the table.

 

[mariomike]

She will likely be facing a significant disciplinary hit. Not sure if she’ll face termination but I won’t be surprised if it’s on the table.

Be interesting if they said how much they pay out in the civil lawsuits.

Yeah, I know. Confidential.

 

[Blackadder1916]

In another thread the problems with small town American policing was discussed. Attempting to consolidate (as much as possible) discussion about policing WTF moments, I'll put this new twist on the problem here.

America’s system of rural ****** PD is pretty badly flawed. Rife with nepotism, corruption, terrible pay, major OH&S issues… this kind of thing isn’t rare.

I can’t say specifically why it’s the case, but there are so many horror stories of these tiny munipal services having major issues. Money and independence seem to be two common factors. Policing is expensive; when municipalities that really can’t afford it nonetheless insist on their own services, you end up with departments staffed with very poorly paid officers (which speaks to both quality and, sometimes corruption), and who can’t afford to properly equip them or train them. Officers who are hurt often have inadequate disability insurance coverage for short or long term. This is also where departments have to ‘self fund’ and you see very sketchy and exploitive use of traffic tickets with arrest/bail powers, as well as civil forfeitures that lack much due process.

On the independence side, you end up with departments that are often prevented implicitly or explicitly from investigating local corruption, from law enforcement when certain businesses or families are concerned who are connected in town, or where the local police may themselves be corrupted. Local police can be used as weapons against municipal political rivals or in pursuing private feuds. The section of local police chiefs can be blatantly nepotistic in order to serve any of the above ends.

This is by no means to say that larger services don’t also have some similar problems, but ‘micro’ forces seem to be prone to lots of really terrible issues.

Welcome to ****** PD

Though not in the same league as Goodhue, Minn (with a population of 1,250 and formerly with a PD of 2 full-time and 3 part-time officers), Coffee City, Tx (population of 250 249 and 50 full-time and reserve police officers) also finds itself without a police force. Only this time it wasn't the department that quit, it was the City Council firing (suspending?) the entire PD.

Texas town with 50 cops for 250 people just disbanded its entire police force

Coffee City, a small Texas town famous for its speed trap, just disbanded its police force after an investigation found many cops had criminal pasts.

www.insider.com

 

[brihard]

In another thread the problems with small town American policing was discussed. Attempting to consolidate (as much as possible) discussion about policing WTF moments, I'll put this new twist on the problem here.




Welcome to ****** PD

Though not in the same league as Goodhue, Minn (with a population of 1,250 and formerly with a PD of 2 full-time and 3 part-time officers), Coffee City, Tx (population of 250 249 and 50 full-time and reserve police officers) also finds itself without a police force. Only this time it wasn't the department that quit, it was the City Council firing (suspending?) the entire PD.

Texas town with 50 cops for 250 people just disbanded its entire police force

Coffee City, a small Texas town famous for its speed trap, just disbanded its police force after an investigation found many cops had criminal pasts.

www.insider.com

What a mess.

 

[mariomike]

Not wtf. But, for readers with an interest in restraint + ketamine.

In today's court room news,

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/20/us/elijah-mcclain-death-trial/index.html

In 2021, the city settled a civil rights lawsuit with the family for $15 million,

 

[CBH99]

Not wtf. But, for readers with an interest in restraint + ketamine.

In today's court room news,

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/20/us/elijah-mcclain-death-trial/index.html

I dunno man, seems pretty wtf to me...

Kid walking home from a convenience store with an iced tea. Not a criminal, nor was he doing anything shady at the time, yet somehow got choked unconscious & then injected with ketamine, and died...

It falls into the "wtf" category in my mind

 

[CBH99]

What a mess.

Holy moly batman...this too falls into the "wtf" category!!

50 cops for a town of 250 residents? 5100 traffic citations in one year, for a town that size?

I'm utterly shocked the cops weren't ran out of town before they got fired. Those citizens must be awfully happy about having to pay those...

 

[brihard]

Holy moly batman...this too falls into the "wtf" category!!

50 cops for a town of 250 residents? 5100 traffic citations in one year, for a town that size?

I'm utterly shocked the cops weren't ran out of town before they got fired. Those citizens must be awfully happy about having to pay those...

They wouldn’t be hitting locals, I suspect, but going after people driving through. A lot of very small town departments in the US fund themselves that way.

 

[Blackadder1916]

Holy moly batman...this too falls into the "wtf" category!!

50 cops for a town of 250 residents? 5100 traffic citations in one year, for a town that size?

I'm utterly shocked the cops weren't ran out of town before they got fired. Those citizens must be awfully happy about having to pay those...

It's unlikely that the "citizens" of Coffee City were the usual targets of that ticket mill. Small town Texas (and some bigger jurisdictions) used to be notorious for speed traps (it probably still is). Over thirty years ago, I was at Fort Sam Houston (San Antonio). One of the items about which we were briefed warned when we reported in was the abundance of speed traps, with one in particular being on a short stretch of road that led to Camp Bullis (the training area, located north of the city - Fort Sam is in the centre of the city). There was only a short stretch of the highway that was in the jurisdiction of a particular town, but there was always a car ready to pounce on someone** just over (debatable?) the speed limit (seems that they kept it up).

I think I drove through Coffee City once, on the way to Shreveport LA but I must have blinked and missed the sights.


** It's been built up considerably since then (1989/90). Back then, there wasn't much past that point except the road leading into the Camp Bullis cantonment area, so most of those nabbed by the speed trap were military. I was stopped once (actually twice on the same evening going each way, but that's another story).